When the two worlds meet
by Hmz0975
Summary: Rebecca Black only wanted to travel the world. She never expected to be a part of the supernatural world. Marcus Volturi had given up on life. He never expected to find his mate after existing for 3000 years. What will happen when these two worlds meet? ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-

"Come on Becks, don't be a spoil sport. It will be fun" I mock imitated my best friend as we walked towards the huge wooden antique doors of the Volturi Castle in Volterra, Italy.

My best friend, Jessie just rolled her eyes in return.

"No but seriously, we could have done some more sightseeing or gone shopping instead of travelling this far for a day tour"

"Becks this is also considered sightseeing" "We have come to Volterra for the first time"

"We were in Florence only for a few days Jess, tomorrow we leave for Rome"

"I really wanted to see Volterra, Becks and look it is not disappointing" she said with a pout and I sighed

Jessie Connweller and I had been best friends since the fourth grade and both of us had only one dream, to travel the world. We used to sit and daydream of going backpacking through Europe in English class and used to make plans of where we would stay and what all would we see. Living in a small reservation like La Push we often thought that our dreams would just remain dreams but we were hell bent on making them reality.

Growing up with a twin sister and a younger brother, I was pretty close to my siblings but even they did not understand why traveling and seeing new places meant so much to me. I felt claustrophobic living in La Push and wanted to grow up so that I could spread my wings and experience all what the world had to offer to me. My mom was the only one who understood and after her demise in a car accident when I was sixteen, living in that same house in La Push was difficult. The week after my graduation from high school, my bags were packed and I left with Jessie to fulfill my dreams. Coincidently Rachel left that same day too, for Seattle. Just like me she missed mom and La Push was not the same place without her. Though I missed Dad and Jake, dad assured me that they would be fine and I should go and pursue my dreams.

"Am I the only one who thinks that our tour guide is creepy?" whispered Jessie in my ear

"Nope, I think so too"

Our tour guide was a blonde woman named Heidi who looked to be in her late twenties and was extremely pale with crimson eyes. She walked with inhuman grace and had a dangerous aura around her.

We were a group of 35 people who had joined the tour from Florence, Italy and after paying a nominal fee had sat in a private bus which had brought us here to Volterra.

"And this is the Volturi Castle" Heidi said in a melodious voice as if she was singing a song "An experience I can guarantee you will never forget"

Somehow her voice was extremely menacing and evil despite of the sweetness in her tone.

So far we had been in Volterra for three hours and had seen the Roman theatre, the Piazza Grande, the clock tower and a beautiful fountain. Today was Saint Marcus's day in Volterra and so it was exceptionally crowded. Heidi told us a bit about this Saint Marcus and why he was so respected around here but there was a constant smirk on her face throughout the conversation as if she was hiding something.

After a quick lunch we were taken to our last destination of the day tour, the Volturi Castle. Apparently it was built more than two thousand years ago and was built with the finest stone. Heidi told us a bit about how it came into existence, who were the founders and how much time did they take to built it.

The current owners organized such day tours so that people from other places could see their rich culture and the carvings done on the walls. It was exquisite to say the least from the outside and the castle was spread across acres with four huge beams on each corner. One thing that I found weird was there were no windows or balconies on the outside. The entire castle was situated on a hill and was heavily guarded at the gate and only buses which had our tour guide on them were permitted inside the premises.

"Afton, Santiago" said Heidi looking at the two guards at the castle door. Just like Heidi these both were exceptionally inhumanly beautiful and shared the same crimson eyes.

"Heidi, is this the tour for the day?" asked the one named Santiago

"You bet" said Heidi winking at him

"Looks good Heidi" said Afton grinning at her

"I know, the master's will be happy"

"Becks, I am not getting a very good vibe from them" Jessie whispered

"I know, me too"

Even though we had whispered all three of them turned to look at us as if they heard us clearly.

The one named Santiago glared at us while Heidi gave a huge threatening smile showing her white teeth.

"So this is our last destination of the tour" said Heidi "I would request you to leave all your belongings here at the entrance. Nothing is allowed inside. You will get them back when we come out"

"What about phones?" asked a balding man in his late fifties

"Sorry Sir, you will have to leave them here. We cannot have anyone clicking photos of the interiors"

Afton came up to each one of us and took our purses, wallets and phones from us. I reluctantly gave him my phone though I would feel safer with it, inside.

"Now let's go inside for the best experience of your life" said Heidi clapping her hands

All 35 of us followed her in through the massive gates. If the exteriors were exquisite this was beyond words. It was majestic and the corridors were lined with paintings, carvings and sculptures which did not look to be of this millennia. Despite our tour guides creepiness I was glad that I came on this tour and I knew Jessie felt the same.

We were taken through a few corridors as each one of us ooh and aahed looking at everything around us. The children in the tour were walking ahead with Heidi and she was telling them how each antique or artistic piece lined up in the corridor was obtained by the owners of this castle.

There were paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet, and Michelangelo among others on display,

"So where are you both from?" asked a woman walking next to us

"La push, Washington" said Jessie

"On a vacation" she asked

We nodded our heads

"Where are you from?" I asked her

"Philadelphia, my husband Bill and I with our kids Jeremy and Casey" she said pointing towards two children who did not look older than seven and five.

"I am Rebecca and this is Jessie"

"Gilda, nice to meet you" she said shaking my hand

"Same here"

"So this is our throne room and the most important room of this castle" said Heidi as the huge mahogany doors were opened by two guards. Before we could enter three people walked out of the room, two women and one man. The man was pale just like the others in this castle but his eyes were golden and he had reddish unkept hair. A pixie like girl was walking in front of him and had similar golden eyes. The boy had wrapped his arm around a brunette who was almost hidden by his side. I could vaguely make out the brunette's features but once I did I knew without a doubt who this was, Bella Swan, Charlie Swan's daughter. Charlie and my father Billy had been the best of friends and fishing buddies since even before we were born and after her parent's divorce every summer Bella would come to visit Charlie and spend the entire day making mud pies with Jake on First beach. Rachel and I never interacted much with her and she had Jake and his friends to keep her company. When I had spoken to dad last he had told me how Bella had moved to Forks after her mother remarried and was now attending Forks high. But what was she doing here, in Italy? Did Charlie even know that she was here?

Suddenly the golden eyed boy looked up and met my eyes giving me a sympathetic look. His eyes were showing his curiosity and mild pain.

They walked out of those doors and we walked in.

A group of forty people were standing by the walls in this hall and all of them had red eyes. Three men were sitting on a throne built on a podium in the centre of the room and all the people around us including the men on the throne were wearing these pitch black robes that looked like they belonged to a different Era. They also had pendants with the letter 'V' in their necks.

The man who was sitting on the centre throne looked like he was in his mid twenties and had jet black hair. He did not much of a physique though and had a childlike expression on his face as if he was a child in a candy shop. His eyes were black though.

The one sitting on his left had white hair and looked like he was in his late thirties. He had a permanent scowl on his face and was glaring at each one of us. His eyes were black too.

The one sitting on the extreme right also had black hair and black eyes but he had a forlorn expression on his face as if he had no reason to live for. He was gazing into nothingness.

From their looks and the fact that they were sitting on thrones, it looked like they were the current rulers/ Owners of the castle. Suddenly the man with the lost expression on directly looked at me and our eyes met for a brief second. Suddenly his eyes widened and his expression became hopeful. He kept looking at something in the air and then he would look at me as if he was seeing an invisible line that only he could see.

After a few minutes of staring at me he looked at Jessie and then at a man with olive skin and black hair who was standing next to Heidi with a surprised expression on his face.

"Welcome to the Castle of the Volturi" said the man in the centre standing up "I am Aro and these are my brothers Caius and Marcus" "We are glad that you have come to see our home" he said with a gleam in his eyes

He was about to say something else when he was stopped by the one named Marcus who stood up from his throne.

"Fratello, il mio compagno è nella folla" said Marcus and all the red eyed creatures turned to look at him with shock and surprise on their face. I recognized the language as Italian but I could not decipher the meaning "e così è di Demetri" continued Marcus and everyone now looked at the man who was standing next to Heidi and who Marcus was earlier staring at, who looked equally surprised.

"Splendid" said the one named Aro clapping his hands before he walked up to Marcus and took his hands in his hand, closing his eyes.

"You have any idea on what is going on?" whispered Jessie

"Nope" I told her honestly

All of us in the tour group were now murmuring and talking in hushed whispers.

"This is wonderful news brother" said Aro opening his eyes again "Sulpicia and Dora will be glad to have a new sister"

"Alec" he said before moving his mouth as if he was talking but no voice came out.

Suddenly I felt like there was a mist coming towards me and Jessie and the next thing I know my eyes closed and there was nothing except blackness.

A/N: Fratello, il mio compagno è nella folla- Brother, my mate is in the crowd

e così è di Demetri- and so is Demetri's

So what do you think should I continue? Please let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you Kpop2012, catgrl, MammaNita4, MissArticWolf, celticank, YaleAceBella12 for your reviews.

Catgrl: No, Rebecca will not be phasing. Just like in the actual book where Rachel and Rebecca don't phase she cannot phase in this story.

MammaNita4: Edward will not be telling Jake about Rebecca because for the sake of the future plotline I need Jake to be clueless of Rebecca going to Volterra and being mated to a vampire.

Chapter 2-

I groaned as my eyes fluttered open. I felt like I had hit a brick wall. My head hurt and so did every other body part of mine. I held my head in my hands as the memory of the past few hours seeped into my mind.

Traveling from Florence to Volterra for a day tour with Jessie. The creepy red eyed tour guide, seeing a few other sights before walking towards the Volturi Castle. Depositing our belongings including phones at the front gate with two other red eyed freaks. Seeing the inside of the castle and being awestruck. Walking towards the throne room and seeing that golden eyed boy and girl with Bella Swan. The weird owners of this castle, the one named Marcus staring at me with hope in his eyes, him muttering something in Italian to Aro and Aro calling to someone named Alec and then blackness.

What had happened and where was I? And why was every inch of my body paining?

I looked around me. I was in someone's bedroom but a pretty unused one, probably a guest room which the owners had not seen in years. I was lying down on a rock hard bed which definitely did not belong to this century with its firm mattress but a surprisingly soft blanket was placed over me.

There was nothing other than a brown rocking chair and an old Almirah in the room. The walls were painted dull gray and there was very less lighting in the room. All in all the room looked pretty lifeless and it was a huge contrast from the corridors we passed to go to the throne room. There were also no pictures or mementos in the room.

A knock at the door brought me out of my thoughts.

"Ciao, mia signora, glad to see you awake" said a woman with a huge smile on her face. She was short in height, not more than 4.8 and her brown hair had been cut in a blunt bob "Master Marcus was worried sick and so was Alec, though Alec was worried for a completely different reason, you see he doesn't generally use his power on a human and when you fainted when he withdraw his power he was terrified that something went wrong and the masters would throw him in the dungeons. I am not sure about Master Aro though, he always had a soft spot for Alec and Jane with him being their sire and all but Master Caius would definitely be up for a strict punishment. He loves tormenting people in that way you know"

Masters, power, fainting, dungeons, sire, what is she talking about? My head was spinning currently.

"Corin that is enough" said another voice and a woman with shoulder length blonde hair and dark red eyes entered the room

"Oops sorry, I have a habit of over saying things when I am nervous. I am glad though that the masters have not yet dismembered me" she said with a nervous laugh

"Corin, why don't you go the kitchen and ask the chefs to prepare something for our new sister. If I remember humans need to eat every few hours and tell the others that she has awoken though I am sure Marcus must be lurking somewhere in these corridors"

"Sure lady Dora" said Corin before leaving the room giving me a huge smile

"I apologize on her behalf. Corin is a tad bit too cheerful for her own good"

"No problem" I said with a tight smile. However weird this people are I am still in their home as their guest. No point in being rude.

"I am Athenodora by the way, Caius's wife"

Wife? She doesn't look a day older than eighteen probably she married young or looks young for her age.

"Rebecca Black" I said shaking her ice cold hand flinching a bit at the coldness

"So Rebecca where are you from?"

"La Push in Washington"

She nodded her head

She was about to say something else when I interrupted her "So I don't meant to be rude but can you tell me what time is it and why was I sleeping in this room?"

"It is a quarter to six in the afternoon and I don't think you remember but you fainted in the throne room"

I fainted? Somehow I find it hard to believe her.

"Where is Jessie?"

To be honest I was a bit worried about Jessie right now. I don't know why but some instinct inside me was wary of trusting these people.

"I am assuming Jessie is your friend's name"

I nodded my head

"She is in Demetri's room" she said as if that was self explanatory

"Why?" I asked her raising my eyebrow "And is this the guest room?"

"Oh these are Marcus's chambers. He refused to change anything in here but now I bet he will be willing to redecorate" she said with a smirk on her face completely ignoring why Jessie is in Demetri's room.

"Oh poor man, he probably has backache all throughout the year sleeping on this rock he calls a bed"

She giggled in a soft voice "I have told him to change his furniture ample times"

Wait, did I just say that out loud?

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or your family" I said sheepishly

"Don't worry" she said still giggling "I don't think you can offend Marcus even if you try. He is an easy going person in that way"

I nodded my head "I wanted to thank you for bringing me to this room and looking after me when I fainted, you didn't have to but I am grateful nonetheless but I should now get going. Jessie and I have to leave for Rome early tomorrow morning"

She looked a little shocked and taken aback and was quiet for a few minutes as if contemplating what to say next.

"Oh great look Marcus is here" she said as the man with black hair that I had seen sitting on the throne walked in the room. His eyes were now red instead of black though. Maybe he was wearing contacts.

"Hello how are you feeling now?"

"I am good. I am surprised I fainted" I answered him honestly. For some reason I was not apprehensive of being in his company.

"That is good to hear La mia bellissima regina"

I did not understand the last part of his sentence but the tone in which he said it made me blush and his face developed a huge smile noticing my blush.

"Can I see Jessie? She must be worried about me" I said changing the topic "Also we should get going now. It is getting pretty late"

His face fell and a sad hopeless expression made its way on his face.

"Of Course, I will ask Demetri to get Jessie here"

A knock at the door diverted our attention there. Corin was standing at the door and I noticed that Athenodora was nowhere to be seen. Strange I did not even see her leave the room.

"Yes Corin" asked Marcus

"Master the chefs are bringing up the dinner. I wanted to inform you and ask you if I should set the table in the sitting room. Perhaps Lady Rebecca will be more comfortable there" she said in a serious tone quite unlike our earlier conversation.

He nodded his head "Tell Demetri to get Jessie here too for dinner. Rebecca would like the company"

Corin bowed down before leaving the room.

Excuse me, why are they acting like I am not even in this room?

"Umm sorry to interrupt but we should really get going. We will stop for dinner on the way" I said in my calmest voice

"It is late, Rebecca. The sun will set in some time and it will be difficult for you to travel back at this time also you will have to find a vehicle to go back" he said after a few minutes of silence

I nodded my head realizing this "Oh yes the people in the tour must have returned"

"Yes they have all gone back to where they came from"

I nodded my head "But seriously we don't want to be a burden on you. We can find a hotel or something"

"Nonsense you can never be a burden on me. My family and I insist that you and your friend spend the night here in our home" he said in a firm voice

"Are you sure?" I asked him "Jessie and I can work something out"

"Please I insist"

"Okay but I need to ask Jessie first if she agrees"

He nodded his head with a small smile on his face

"We should go to the sitting room" he said walking out of the room while I followed

The room I had been in was connected to a sitting room and another room which I figured was the bathroom. The sitting room was pretty huge but was painted in the same dull gray color. A Victorian sofa set was there in the centre with a teak wood centre table. A desk was kept in one of the corners and two bookcases were placed behind it. A laptop was lying on the desk. Unlike the bedroom this room was nicely lit.

"I am assuming you like this room" he said

I nodded my head "I like the décor"

"Dora forced me to let her renovate this room. Also unlike Caius and Aro I don't have a private office in the castle so I attend to the meetings I have to attend in here"

"What work do you do?"

"We are kind of the rulers and make sure everything is running smoothly in our community"

"So you are like the royal family of Volterra?"

He laughed and nodded his head "Sort of"

"Wow I am in the presence of a king. I am a lucky person"

"No La mia bellissima regina, I am the lucky one"

"What does that mean?"

"I called you beautiful" he said making me blush

"I got that but what does regina mean?"

He was about to answer when someone knocked at the door.

"Master can we come in?" asked a voice before the olive skinned man I had seen this morning walked in with Jessie

"Jess are you okay?" I hugged her as they both entered

"Yeah I am good. I fainted apparently"

"Huh me too" That is a strange coincidence

"So I was just telling Jessie that they both should stay the night. It won't be comfortable for them to travel at this hour" said the olive skinned man

"I was just telling Rebecca the same, Demetri" said Marcus

I looked at Jessie for her answer though I was willing to stay the night in this castle if she would be uncomfortable with the idea I would leave with her.

"Can we talk in private?" asked Jessie and both Marcus and Demetri left the room

"So what you think these freaks are?" she asked as they closed the door "Because they are definitely not human"

"I know, I am currently tilting towards alien" I said with a curious look on my face

"Nah I think they are mutants"

"Jess they are so weird. Like their behavior and mannerisms are so out of place"

"I know and the red eye color"

"I guess it is a cult thing. Probably they all have to wear red lenses to work here"

"And they are so cold to touch and Demetri was behaving so strangely. You know he was staring at me when I woke up and he kept saying things which made no sense. He was behaving as if he is centuries old instead of decades"

"I got the same feeling. Also they don't refer to themselves as humans"

"So what do you want to do?" she said sighing

"Honestly part of me just wants to run away from here and never look back but I am also tired, hungry and sleepy and don't want to go all the way back to sleep in that crappy motel room"

She nodded her head "I think we should just rest here tonight and leave tomorrow early morning"

"You think that is a good idea?"

"Look if they wanted to kill us they could have done so when we had our fainting spell"

"Okay" I said agreeing with her

A man with blue eyes opened the door of the room. He had a serving trolley filled with dishes ahead of him. His eyes and tanned skin told us that he was like us 'human'.

"Lady Rebecca and Ms Jessie, are you ready to eat dinner? I am the head chef of this castle Danny"

We nodded our heads and he pointed towards a wooden dining table placed opposite the sofa set. It looked as if it had just been placed here.

We sat and he started serving the dishes. There was Caprese salad, Penne Arrabiata and garlic bread.

"Would you like some wine with your dinner?" he asked us

"Sure" said Jessie

He poured us each a glass before leaving the room

"This is better than any restaurant I have ever eaten in" said Jessie taking the first bite

"I know" I said relishing on the food. My mom was one of the best cooks I knew but even she could not cook this good. Rachel and I could not cook even if it depended on our life. We were terrible in the kitchen.

"I am assuming you like the food" said Marcus. The both of them Marcus and Demetri were standing at the door looking at us with a smile on their faces.

"Yeah it is really good" I said

"Glad you like it. The chefs have specially made it for you" said Marcus

"What about you? Have you eaten dinner?" asked Jessie

"No" said Demetri rubbing the back of his neck

"Why don't you join us?" I asked them

Demetri looked at Marcus, while Marcus just nodded his head taking a deep breath

"Sure we would like that"

They sat on the chairs Marcus next to me and Demetri on the seat next to Jessie

"This is very good" said Demetri taking the first bite though his face had a sort of grimace

"I agree with you" said Marcus shifting around the food in his plate eating a few bites here and there. I got a feeling that they were both very uncomfortable.

We made small talk during dinner and they told us about Volterra and Saint Marcus's day which was today and we told them about Florence and where all we had travelled till now.

After dinner and desert which was the finest tiramisu I had ever eaten and another glass of wine both Marcus and Demetri excused themselves.

A lady named Renata came to escort Jessie to the Demetri's room as she would definitely lose her way in this big a castle and after she left telling me that she would meet me tomorrow morning, I sat back down on the sofa.

Corin walked in a few minutes later

"Corin could you ask Heidi, our tour guide to return my phone and purse" It had been hours since I checked my phone and I really wanted it back.

"Of course lady Rebecca, I will get it for you after I escort you to the guest room"

"Guest room?"

"Master Marcus heard you tell Lady Dora how you were not comfortable sleeping on this bed and asked me to set up a guest room for you"

"That is very sweet of him"

Also now it made sense why he was referred to as Master by the others. He was their ruler or something. But why was I called lady and Jessie Ms. Jessie?

She nodded her head and I followed her out to the ostentatious corridors of this castle. We passed a few corridors before we entered an elevator.

"We were in the north wing previously, now we are going towards the east wing where the guest rooms are located" she told me

"Do you get a lot of visitors?"

"Sometimes we do but none are on the floor where the room for you has been prepared"

I nodded my head surprised

We walked through another corridor before she unlocked the door to a room.

"A set of fresh clothes have been kept for you if you want to change and please feel free to call me if you need anything" she said before leaving me alone in the room

I took a look at the grandeur of the room in front of me. Marcus did not look to be that Ostentatious maybe Aro was the Ostentatious one.

I took a shower before changing into the clothes I had been provided and lying down on the bed.

Corin knocked and handed me my phone and purse before leaving once again.

I lied down once again on the bed and checked my phone. I had a few messages from my school friends and family members Rachel telling me, how her date with Michael went today and my dad asking me where I was.

No point in troubling dad by telling him that I had to stay back in Volterra. Anyways it is just for a few hours. I messaged him that I was fine and was in Florence.

I put my phone on the bedside table before closing my eyes thinking about tomorrow and Rome.

A/N: Ciao, mia signora- Hello, my lady

La mia bellissima regina- My beautiful queen

Also I know that Corin was a man in the books but I wanted to show Corin as a female companion to the queens. Her power stays the same though- to keep people around her happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you Mep101, MammaNita4, YaleAceBella12, catgrl for your reviews.

Chapter 3-

I woke up from the most fruitful sleep of my life the next morning. I felt completely relaxed for once. I looked around the room remembering the events of last night. I was currently in a weird stranger's house who considered himself royalty. Though Jessie and I had joked that they were not humans last night, I doubted that the supernatural existed beyond books and movies. The world would be a very different place if the supernatural actually existed. I was a firm believer in only believe what you see and life had never given me a reason till date to believe in anything beyond the realm of mere mortals.

I groaned loudly trying to figure out the time. Why were there no windows in this room or for that matter in this entire Castle? It gave me the creeps for some reason not to be able to see outside the window. Back in La Push, Rachel and I used to share a room and having lost a bet with her, I had to sleep on the bed closest to the window. Even though La Push rarely saw the sun, the brief rays that fell on our town were enough to wake me up each morning. It was annoying sure to wake up because of that but I was used to it by now.

Great there was no clock also in this room. I picked up my phone and checked the timing on it before checking to see if I had any unread messages, nope no new messages. It was 8 am and we should have been on the road by now. Volterra to Rome would be three and half hours and we would have to stop at our motel in Florence to pick up our bags on the way.

I got out of bed and entered the attached bathroom to get ready for the day. I figured I would just have to wear the same clothes as yesterday. Though the one named Corin had been nice enough to lend me some clothes for last night it would not look good if I asked her for another pair. But I was shocked to find not only another pair of clothes in the bathroom but a spare toothbrush and the brand of shampoo which I regularly used already placed in the bathroom and I was 90% sure this wasn't there last night.

Wait I had locked the door before sleeping. I had double checked to see it. Sure I had drank a bit but I was clearly not drunk. I remember everything. Did they just break into my room when I was sleeping?

Wow what kind of person does that? Please tell me someone did not stare at me while I slept. That is just plain creepy.

Okay time to get the hell out of this dodge.

I quickly showered and brushed my teeth wearing my own clothes of the previous day again throwing the nightwear in the hamper provided.

After getting dressed and charging my phone to a 100 % I left the room grabbing my purse. I did not think I could wait any longer in that room. I tried calling up Jessie but she was not picking up her phone maybe it was on silent mode.

I realized my mistake after walking ten steps from the room. The castle was built like a maze. All corridors were interconnected and you could not differentiate one corridor from the other. Also all the room doors were made of teakwood and were carved in a similar manner so even if I wanted I could not find the room I had been in again.

I walked for a while trying to found out the elevator Corin had made me enter last night. There was nobody in sight too. I briefly remembered her telling me that this was the wing where all the guest rooms were located and I was their only guest at the moment. But still not one soul in sight is strange.

I must have walked through the same corridor for the tenth time when I saw someone walking towards me. Finally!

"Excuse me, can you tell me where the reception is?" I asked with a smile

I figured if I manage to reach the reception, which I had seen yesterday I could not only find a way out of here but also contact Jessie. Another motive was that the castle holds weekly tours. They could arrange a rental car for us or something so that we don't have to go searching for one.

The said woman just looked at me in shock and was silent for a few seconds.

"Lady Rebecca you should not be out here alone. It is not safe. Where is Corin?" she almost shouted at me.

"Umm I don't know"

She whispered something that sounded like Master Marcus will have her head for this.

"I will have to take you back to your room till either Corin or Master Marcus comes to get you" she said tugging on my hand.

I tried pulling away but damn she was strong.

"Look just tell me where the reception is. I need to leave now. I thank your masters for their hospitality but I should really get going."

She sighed loudly "Fine but I am not responsible for this if anything goes wrong"

I looked at her incredulously before nodding my head. What wrong was she talking about?

"Follow me" she said before turning and walking. She kept murmuring something which I could barely hear. I heard a few words though like 'new queen' 'silly human' 'follow her like pets on a leash' which did not make much sense to me.

She led me though a few corridors before reaching an elevator and taking me to the ground level where I assume the reception was. She just kept glaring at me throughout. Just my luck, that I would find the one person who hated me without any reason. Maybe she just did not like people staying back uninvited or without paying the room charges. I had still not figured out what this castle exactly was. My best guess was that it was like a hotel where people could stay after booking a room. They sure had many empty rooms. But what was with the red eyes though? It was such a weird eye color to have on all of your staff.

"Gianna" said the short blonde woman who had escorted me till here "My work is done. Tell Master Marcus that Lady Rebecca is over here"

"Yes Jane" said Gianna stuttering

She rolled her eyes and muttered 'humans' under her breath before walking off.

"Lady Rebecca would you like a coffee or something. Please have a seat"

I smiled at her "Please just call me Rebecca and no thank you, I am okay"

She just smiled back "I am Gianna"

"Nice to meet you" "Could you tell how to contact my friend Jessie? She came with me here yesterday and is apparently in someone named Demetri's room. I tried calling her cell phone but she is not picking up"

She looked scared and shocked at the same time and her face turned Pale.

She nodded her head way too fast and went back to the computer she was working on before picking up the landline in front of her and whispering something too soft for me to hear on it.

I just sat down on the couch provided and started surfing through the magazines provided. This place and the people here were absurd. Maybe we made a mistake by agreeing to stay the night. We should have left last night only when we had the chance. Where was Jessie?

"Rebecca" said a voice and I looked up to see Marcus coming towards me.

"Hello" I said giving him a small smile

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah thank you"

"Did you not like the clothes I asked Heidi to keep for you?" he asked in a nervous manner

So Heidi was the one who broke in.

"No nothing like that. I can go back to my motel and change"

His face fell again

"Sorry Corin was busy this morning"

"No problem. I am sure she must be having other duties to attend to"

"Would you like to eat breakfast?"

"No thank you again but we really should get going. We will eat something on the way. If you could just call Demetri and ask him to bring Jessie here that would be great"

He took a deep breath which sounded kind of unnecessary before nodding his head.

"Perhaps you would like to take a walk with me?"

"Okay" I answered hesitantly

Frankly these people were pushing on my last nerve and I was not much of a patient person.

He tried taking my hand but before he could I put my hands in my jeans pockets. The sadness enveloped his face again but he managed to cover it.

We walked towards a set of huge glass doors and he pushed open the doors for me to enter before him.

"This is the official Volturi garden" he said pointing towards the beautiful sight in front of me. I automatically remembered my mom and how much she loved gardening when I saw the flowers in front of me. The garden was huge and very well kept.

Marcus showed me a bit around the garden and told me about each plant. I was surprised to see that he was this knowledgeable as he pointed to every plant in the garden and told me the name and which season did they bloom in.

He stopped near a plant before picking out a flower from it. The flower was heart shaped pink color with a small water droplet at the tip of the flower and it was stunningly beautiful.

"This is a bleeding heart flower" he said giving it to me as I blushed

It was the most beautiful thing anyone had even given me and brought a huge smile on my face.

"So Rebecca do you believe in vampires and werewolves?" he asked me as we were walking together in the garden.

"No, they are just stories to scare the weak minded" I said honestly. When we were Kids, dad used to tell us these stories of Taha Aki and spirit warriors but neither I nor Rachel believed in them and finally he gave up and stopped telling them to us.

"What if I tell that they exist?"

"I would tell you that you are crazy. This is all just folklore and really does not exist. Like Bigfoot or Santa. They are just tales to tell children about"

"You really don't believe in all this?"

"Nope" I said shaking my head "Till I don't get proof I don't believe in it"

I suddenly felt a blur of white next to me and the next second Marcus was standing on the other side of the garden.

I moved back a few steps "How did you do that?"

"I am a vampire Rebecca" he said looking into my eyes

"Bullshit, you are lying"

"You wanted proof. I am giving you proof" he took a chair kept in the corner and broke it with one hand.

"The strength, the speed, is all because of this. We are immortal and feed on blood"

"Blood?" I whispered

"Yes when we don't feed for a while our eyes turn black. After we eat our eyes turn red again"

"All of you are vampires?"

He nodded his head

I felt like I was fainting. I had been surrounded by blood sucking vampires.

"We are the vampire royalty. We make the rules and maintain peace for our kind"

"Your kind" I asked

"Yes the world is filled with vampires, most stay in Europe and America though"

"Those humans on the tour" I whispered remembering those people

He sighed "We three kings and the two Queens don't leave the castle. Heidi has a power to attract humans to her. She organizes these day tours and gets people here. The elite guard often eats with us."

"You killed them?" I whispered. This was all too much to bear

"I am sorry Rebecca. I cannot tell you anything in my defense. Just that this is normality for my kind" he said looking at the floor

"Why did you save me and Jessie?"

"I would rather tell you this when you are comfortable with the topic of vampires" he said

I was hyperventilating. This was all too much to bear. I felt my head go heavy and me eyes close before I fell.

The next time my eyes opened I was back in the room I had been in, when I woke up this morning. Marcus was sitting on a chair next to the bed. He looked distraught and dejected.

"What happened?" I asked as I shuddered back on the bed

"Please Amore, please don't be scared of me" he said almost begging "You fainted and that is why I got you here."

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. His eyes were pleading to me to understand.

"Okay I am calm now. Tell me why you saved me and Jessie and killed the others"

"Amore…" he started

"Rebecca" I interrupted him "My name is Rebecca"

"Of Course, Rebecca we vampires are immortal and live for thousands of years. Nothing can kill us except when another vampire burns our parts. In all of our immortal life the only gift we get is our mate. Each vampire only has one and if they die we die too. Vampire mating is a very strong instinct and we are completely loyal to them. We are extremely protective and possessive too. We cannot be far away from them or the distance can kill us"

"So I am…?" I asked shocked

"Yes you are my mate"

"But, why How?" "I am not a vampire"

He gave me a small smile "Generally a vampire would not recognize his mate if she were human. The mating pull is only between two vampires but because of my gift I could recognize that you were my mate or I could have killed you and never found my mate" he said slightly shaking

"What gift?" "Do all vampires have gifts?"

"I can see the bonds between people and when you entered the throne room yesterday I could see the golden line going from me to you. No, all vampires are not gifted. A few are in general and majority of our guard are because we need to have a powerful guard to rule. When you meet them you will find out about their powers"

I nodded my head. Apparently I was mated to a vampire king. I felt like I was in twilight zone or maybe was dreaming. Yes this had to be a dream.

"Ouch" I screamed when I pinched myself

"Amore, I mean Rebecca, are you okay?"

"Yeah I am fucking dandy" I snapped back

I took my head in my hands "Sorry I didn't mean to snap at you" I said when I saw his fallen expression

"This is all too much for me to take in"

"I understand Rebecca"

"Wait what about Jessie? Was she saved only because she was with me?"

"No she is Demetri's mate"

"Oh" I whispered "Does she know?"

He shook his head "No not yet. But she will know very soon"

"What do you mean?" "Where is she right now?"

He sighed "Demetri accidently slipped last night. She is changing right now"

"What" I shouted jumping out of the bed "Changing as in becoming like you all"

"Yes" he said "We have to bite a human to make them like us"

"But did he even ask her"

"He will apologize to her when she wakes up. She will feel the mating pull too"

"This is ridiculous. She will never get to see her parents or her sister again" "Will she even be able to go back home?"

He shook his head "Rebecca I apologize but even you cannot go back home"

"What?" I turned to look at him

"We are the kings of our world. We have a lot of enemies. You are still human and vulnerable. Anyone can harm you to take revenge from us. If anything happens to you I will not be able survive. The other two queens still don't leave the castle. After a calamity a thousand years back they stopped leaving the castle"

"I can't be a prisoner"

"Please amore, don't compare yourself to a prisoner. This is your home. Whatever you want you will get"

"I want to leave" I said firmly

He sadly shook his head "Please amore, reconsider"

"Will you also force me to change into a vampire if I refuse?"

I had to know the answer to this.

"Of course not la mia bellissima regina. I would never force any decision on you" he said looking into my eyes. I could see the honesty in them.

I nodded my head "I can't stay here. My life is somewhere else"

"Give me thirty days Rebecca. If you still feel like leaving at the end of thirty days. I will let you go" he said in a pleading tone

"You will let me go?" I asked to be sure

"Yes. No one will force to stay back"

I was quiet for a few minutes. My mind was a mess right now. I had never believed in the concept of one true love.

"Okay" I said after a while "But I will lay down the rules"

He nodded his head "Whatever you want"

"I am not a prisoner and I will not be treated like one. I like my freedom. Send your best guard members with me if you want but I will leave the castle whenever I want"

"Agreed" "But I will decide who accompanies you and you will never go anywhere alone"

I nodded my head "And whether I want to become like you or not will be my choice. No one will force me"

He nodded his head "Of course"

"And another thing, no one enters my room when I am sleeping. It gives me the creeps"

"Sorry we wanted you to be comfortable. I will see to it that it will not happen again"

I nodded my head "Okay you have thirty days to change my mind"

Amore- Love

La mia bellissima regina- my beautiful queen


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you catgrl, GomezAddams1, YaleAceBella12, animexchick, celticank, MammaNita4 and MissArcticWolf for your reviews.

Chapter 4-

_Day 1-_

I don't know whether I had made the bravest or the stupidest decision of my life agreeing to stay here for thirty days with a vampire who can easily snap me into pieces in seconds and claims to be my mate. But what other choice did I have? Would he even let me leave if I told him to or would I also become food for one of his hungry guard members?

I know he says that I am the most important person in his life and he won't survive without me and all of that but how do I decipher truth from false. This is not my world and I feel no pull to him. For me they are just a 'Vampire royalty' who have captured me and changed my entire life within seconds.

Till yesterday I was Rebecca Marianne Black daughter of William and Sarah Black, a nineteen year old girl who had graduated from high school and wanted to see a bit of the world before deciding on what she wanted from life ahead and today I was mated to a vampire king living in a castle filled with vampires who look at me as their queen and if I believe what Marcus said, there are a lot of others like them who would gladly kill me to take revenge from him making me one of the most vulnerable human on the planet. Great!

"Rebecca, are you okay? You seem lost" said Marcus

We were still in the room where Marcus had told me that I was his mate around ten minutes back.

I shook my head "No I am fine"

He looked like he did not believe me but chose not to say anything.

"Would you like to meet my brothers and their wives?" he asked me with a hopeful look on his face

I nodded my head with a small smile. If I was going to be staying here for a month might as well have a conversation with them and try to be cordial.

A huge grin overtook his face and it was a huge contrast from the dejectedness I had seen on his face just yesterday.

"Oh they would love to meet you. They have been waiting since so long to meet my mate and especially the wives, they think of you as a younger sister."

I smiled and followed him as he walked out of the room. It looked like he wanted to hold my hand in his but before he could I put my hands in my jeans pockets and his face fell a bit.

He walked me to the elevator and soon we were on the top floor of this castle.

"This is the fourth and the top most floor of our house. We three brothers have our chambers here and also open space for Picia and Dora to roam around freely. None of the guards except Corin are allowed on this floor unless specially called for as our mate's security is our highest priority"

"What do the wives do the entire day? I am figuring you three go to handle matters as the royalty leaving them here"

"That only they both can tell you in detail but I can tell you how much I know. Over the years they have developed certain hobbies and they indulge in it in their free time. Like Dora loves gardening and has her own covered terrace garden. She also paints and plays the violin in her free time. Picia on the other hand is an avid reader and most of the time you would find her in the Volturi library. She also translates some of the older literary works in other languages so that the younger guard members can read them"

"How many languages does she know?"

"She takes pride in the fact that she can read, write and speak fluently in 143 languages"

I just stared at him in shock stopping my walk "Are you serious? That is amazing"

He gave me a smile "When you have all the time in the world you tend to learn new information and it also helps that we have a photographic memory. I myself know 72 languages"

"Wow you will have to teach me one day. I would love to learn a new language"

His smile widened "Of Course Amore, whatever you want"

I smiled back and we continued our walking. I had always loved reading about new places, their people and the language spoken there.

We stopped outside one of the chambers and he lightly knocked at the door.

"They already know that we both are at the door as they can smell us but we always knock to give one another the sense of privacy" he told me as I nodded my head

A man in his mid twenties with jet black hair and red eyes opened the door. I faintly recognized him as Aro, one of Marcus's brothers.

"Ah Marcus and Rebecca, come in. We were expecting you both"

He stepped back as we entered the room. The ostentatious feel of the room made me believe that this was Aro and Sulpicia's room. A woman in her mid twenties with long wavy brown hair was sitting on the couch reading a book and smiled when her eyes met mine. The third brother who I remembered as Caius was sitting on one of the chairs a half played chess board in front of him. His face did not change from the scowl it permanently held. Dora quickly got up from her seat on the couch and came and gave me a hug. I hesitantly hugged her back.

"Rebecca, these are my brothers Aro and Caius and their wives Sulpicia and Athenodora"

I smiled at them.

Aro came forward and brought his hand ahead asking me to give him my hand. I was a bit surprised but was about to put my hand in his when Marcus took my hand in his, sighing and giving Aro a disapproving look.

"Aro I told you. I would not be comfortable with you reading my mate's thoughts. She is not one of the guard members and she would like her privacy to be intact"

Reading my thoughts? Marcus had told me that some vampires have gifts, was Aro a mind reader, if that is even possible.

"Aro can read every thought you have ever had and every memory of yours when he touches your hand" said Marcus looking at my confused expression

I nodded my head still in shock and Aro pouted like a small child who had been refused a candy.

Somehow both Aro and Caius gave me weird vibes and I had a feeling that I would be staying away from them both at least.

"Ignore my husband" said Sulpicia "He is like a small curious child in more ways than one"

I smiled and nodded my head though I was bit creeped out that if Marcus had not stopped him this man would know every small detail of my life. Everyone has their secrets and has a right to protect them and I would surely not be comfortable with someone knowing my innermost secrets without me telling them.

"Aro can we get back at our game" said Caius before Aro went and sat opposite him on the empty chair.

"Aro and Caius love playing chess in their free time. It is very interesting to see their game and Caius always loses after challenging Aro for a game" whispered Marcus in my ear as we sat on the couch and I giggled a bit. Caius gave Marcus a scowl after listening to his comment and went back to the game.

Sulpicia went back to her book and Dora was playing a game on her phone. I missed the first two moves as they were just a blur to me and I figured they were playing at vampire speed and tuned out of the rest of the game. As Marcus had predicted Aro won and Caius was now in a worse mood than before.

"So Rebecca, when are you going to be changed?" asked Sulpicia and I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Umm I am not sure actually if I want to become like you all" I whispered and there was pin drop silence in the room.

"Excuse me" said Caius raising his eyebrows

"What Rebecca means to say is that she will take her decision whether she wants to stay here and become like us or she wants to leave and go back to her past life in thirty days" said Marcus

"I don't understand" said Caius looking bewildered "She is your mate and you are willing to let her go if she wants to"

Marcus nodded his head "We need to remember she is not a vampire and we cannot expect her to leave everything and accept a new life out of the blue"

Neither Aro nor Caius looked convinced by what Marcus was saying.

"Or you could just use Corin" said Aro as if that was the most obvious solution in the world and Marcus glared at him.

In the short while that I had known Marcus I had never seen him this angry. He was shaking a bit and I could feel the anger rolling out of him.

"Aro" said Marcus in a firm voice "I don't interfere in your personal life and I expect that you won't interfere in mine"

Aro nodded his head looking a bit resigned.

"Rebecca let's go from here" said Marcus taking my hand and leading me towards the door.

"Marcus wait, we just want what is best for you" said Aro

"And what is best for the Volturi" added Caius glaring at me "Leaving her human in a castle filled with hungry Vampires is insane. What if someone slips? She should be turned tonight itself"

I took a few steps back. They were stronger and faster than me. If they wanted they could do anything to me and I would not be able to stop them and I was honestly scared at this moment.

"No. This will be her decision when and if she wants to take it and I will protect her myself if need be" said Marcus

"Marcus you are just being a sentimental fool" scowled Caius

"I may be and I need some time to think. I will be in my chambers" said Marcus before holding my hand and opening the door of the room.

We walked out of the room and into the brightly lit corridors. Marcus did not say a word to me and we walked in silence. He stopped outside another door and pushed it open revealing to me his room.

He made me sit on the couch and kneeled in front of me.

"Rebecca, please trust me. I promise to you that no one will harm you. I could feel your fear in the room and I don't ever want you to be afraid"

I nodded my head. From the short interaction that had happened in that room I now knew that Marcus was not a bad person and I could at least trust him a bit. He could have changed me and later apologized like Demetri would when Jessie became a vampire like him but Marcus chose to give me this choice.

"What is Corin's power? I am assuming she has one"

"She makes everyone around her feel happy and content. You forget your sadness when you are in her presence"

"So that is why she is around the queens so much?" I asked him shocked

He nodded his head

"Do Dora and Sulpicia know this?"

He sighed "Yes they do but what other choice do they have. They can't leave the castle"

"Why?"

"Because of what happened with Didyme"

"Didyme" I asked him

He took a deep unnecessary breath "She was my wife. Aro and Caius found their mates early on but when I didn't find mine for close to a millennium Didyme became my companion and later wife. She was Aro's sister and a very joyful person. We both knew that we were not mates but it did not matter to us. We were very happy in our life and were married for nearly a thousand years when the Romanians caught hold of her one day and killed her to make us suffer. The Romanians are one of our oldest enemies and after that Aro and Caius refused to let their wives out of their sight and so they use Corin and expensive gifts to keep them happy"

"I am sorry for your loss" I said though I was surprised by the brief tinge of jealously that I felt when I heard about him being with anyone else. I pushed it in the back of my mind.

He nodded his head "I would never let her use her power on you, Rebecca. I want you to accept me and this world because you want to not because you are forced too"

I nodded my head not knowing what to say ahead.

"Would you like a tour of the castle?" he asked me after a few minutes of silence and I immediately agreed. Surprisingly my stomach growled at that very moment reminding me that I had not eaten anything since morning.

"Sorry I forgot that humans need to eat every few hours" he replied sheepishly

I shrugged. It was not like I had remembered.

"Would you like to start our tour with the kitchen?"

I smiled and nodded my head. We left his room and walked towards the elevator.

"The kitchen is in the south wing and I would appreciate if you don't go there alone"

"Why?" I asked him curiously

"Not everyone has amazing control in here Rebecca. The south wing is where the lower and newer guard members stay. They will not knowingly harm you but I cannot take the risk that they will accidently slip. If you are accompanied by me or one of elite guard members I would feel safer"

I nodded my head "What are the elite guard and the lower guard?"

"The elite guard is the highest level and go on missions and help us in ruling. They all have strong powers that help them out. There are ten members in the Elite guard - Demetri, who is the master of all lower guard member and all of them report to him while he reports to us, Jane, Alec, Felix, Chelsea, Afton, Renata, Santiago, Corin and Heidi."

"The lower guard does the spying work for us and tells us what is going on with each of the coven across the world and if they are breaking any rules so that the elite guard can go and wipe them out if necessary and they guard the castle. As of now we have close to a fifty lower guard members"

I nodded my head taking in all the information.

"We are here" said Marcus and we entered a fully functional kitchen with all the latest appliances. The head chef Danny who had served us food the previous night was standing by the stove and three other humans were sitting and eating on one of the booths.

They all stood up when Marcus entered.

"Dismiss" said Marcus and in seconds the room was cleared out.

"Why do you have a fully functional kitchen when you don't eat and why are there humans around here? Isn't it dangerous for them?"

"We have a fully functional kitchen for the humans that work here. Our laundry staff and the cleaning staff are human. Also for appearance sake our gatekeepers are human. And you have met Gianna our receptionist. She is the one who keeps the pantry stocked"

I nodded my head "Do they know?"

He shook his head "Only Gianna knows but she wants to be changed. The others just know that we are different and not to go against us. Everyone is told to behave a bit human when they are around"

"Rebecca, to maintain peace in our world, Aro, Caius and I have made a few rules that every vampire has to follow to avoid pain or death. There aren't many and most of them are concerned with secrecy. Firstly they cannot be written down and are only passed through word of mouth. Hunts must be inconspicuous and no one is allowed to hunt in Volterra, not even our guard. Creating Immortal children is a taboo and a punishable offense as children cannot control themselves and the most important, no human can know of our existence and must be changed or killed if they find out and no vampire is allowed to go out in sunlight in the presence of humans"

"I understand the others but why not sunlight. Does it burn you?"

He chuckled "No we sparkle"

"What" I exclaimed

"Yes our bodies sparkle like diamonds. I will show you one day"

I nodded my head and quickly made myself a sandwich while questioning Marcus if any of the myths are true. Turns out all of them are false and all the information we know about vampires is a caricature of someone's imagination.

After I ate the both of us left the kitchen to begin my tour of the castle.

"We have four wings to the castle. The entire north wing hosts our chambers and the queen's area. The east wing was where your room was and holds other guest rooms. The west wing has the elite guard rooms and the south wing has the lower guard rooms, the kitchen and the laundry room." He told me as we passed each of the wings. Surprisingly all the vampires we came across would turn back and head the other way after bowing down to Marcus as if they knew better than to disturb us.

"The entire ground floor hosts the reception area, our throne room, the training room, the Volturi library and the offices of Aro and Caius" said Marcus as we passed the door of each room.

"This is the Volturi library" he said opening the massive mahogany doors. I was frozen in my place looking at what was around me. The library was huge and held ceiling high cabinets filled with books. Some of the books looked extremely old and of a different time itself.

"This is beautiful"

"Some of these books are from Sulpicia's personal collection" he said giving me a smile as I walked from shelf to shelf surprised at the books I found. The books were organized according to the ages they were written in. There were books from the Bronze age, Iron age, the Greek literature, the Latin literature, the Indian literature and probably every other book that was written in the BC era or AD.

Marcus told me a bit about the history of these books before we left the library.

"Now I am going to take you to the favorite place of the younger guard members" said Marcus before leading me to another elevator.

I followed him in anticipation waiting to see what was coming next.

"This is our basement and all the vehicles the Volturi owns" he said before I looked around and my jaw dropped. This was no ordinary garage. There were Bentley's, Audi's, Rolls Royce and Porsche's amongst others.

"Some of the cars and bikes belong to the older elite members but most of the vehicles are Volturi owned"

I nodded my head and walked from car to car.

He told me which car or bike belonged to which guard member or which of his brother liked to drive it and I gladly listened.

"You know my brother would have gone crazy in here" I told him

"You have a brother?"

I nodded my head "A twin sister Rachel and a younger brother Jacob"

"He likes cars?"

"He loves cars. He has been fascinated with them ever since he could crawl" I told him as a smile overtook my face. I missed my family more than I had imagined I would.

He listened to me patiently as I spoke of my family and childhood asking me questions once in a while.

We finally stopped in front of a silver colored Lamborghini.

"Whose is this?"

"Guess" he said with a smirk

"I don't know" I said honestly

"Well this is mine"

I looked at him with my mouth open "I would have never guessed that this was yours"

"I am full of surprises Ms Rebecca Black" he said giving me a dazzling smile making me blush.

"I have two cars this and a yellow Ferrari" he said pointing at the Ferrari "I am not much of a bike person"

I gave him my best pleading look "Can I drive this? Please"

He was quiet for a few minutes before he shook his head. I knew he was not worried about me driving as much as he was worried about me driving outside the castle. But I had already told him this that I would be leaving the castle when I wanted to.

"Please. I will just go for a short drive"

He still looked unconvinced

"You can come with me" I said giving him a puppy dog expression

He sighed "I am always going to lose in our arguments right La mia bellissima regina"

I gave him a wink "You bet"

He shook his head "Come on let's go for a drive"

I shrieked in joy before almost running to the car.

"And Marcus" I said as I opened the door to the driver's seat "Friends call me Becca"

He gave me a heartwarming smile before sitting in the seat next to mine.

I had a feeling this was the start to a beautiful friendship.

A/N: Amore- Love

La mia bellissima regina- my beautiful queen


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you MammaNita4 and catgrl for your reviews.

Chapter 5-

"So that was fun" I said as I parked the car back at its place and got out of the driver's seat

Surprisingly, what was meant to be only a short drive had become a day tour to Florence for the both of us. When Marcus told me that he had not been out of Volterra in almost a century I was flabbergasted. The world around us had changed so much and he had missed all of that by locking himself up in a tower and never leaving. He told me how Heidi was also their official shopper and was responsible for buying whatever they or the queens needed irrespective of which part of the world it was in. Heidi was also the one who bought the queen's clothes, accessories and shoes before online shopping was invented. I listened to him in awe as he spoke about how they lived in the older days when technology was not this advanced and how Aro was always the first one to bring any new technology that was invented in the castle so that they could update with time. He told me how the finest invention he had ever seen was the invention of printing press by Gutenberg and how inspired he had been by it.

As I listened to him talk throughout the short distance of an hour and half, I realized how mature and well read he was and how easy it was to talk to him.

Luckily for us, it was a cloudy day and so even Marcus could come out of the car and roam the streets with me. Though his red eyes were a give away at least his body did not sparkle due to the lack of sunlight. He had told me how their skin sparkled in direct sunlight making it obvious to anyone who saw them that they were not human and he told me that he would show it to me some other day. After picking up our bags from the motel and dumping it in the car, I took Marcus for some local sightseeing.

We toured through the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Piazza Duomo admiring the artistic treasures in there by artists such as Brunelleschi and Michelangelo and the Uffizi Gallery which was considered to be one of the world's top art museums. I figured I liked Marcus's company as he told me how everything was centuries back and how was it like when these artists were actually living giving me more information than I could find out by reading any book. After spending a few more hours shopping and buying a few souvenirs so that I could remember coming here with Marcus the both of us left for Volterra in his car. The entire journey back to the castle was spent with me teaching him the ins and outs of modern terminology and the latest music trends. I was surprised that he had not heard any of the latest songs and made him listen to the music I had on my iPod which was filled with songs by singers such as Beyonce, Eminem and Akon and after a while he even started humming to the tune which had brought a smile on my face. Our friendship was like an amalgamation between archaism and modernity, the old meeting the new. "Yeah it was" said Marcus bringing me back to the present

I gave him a small smile "So I should get going to my room" I was quite tired to be honest and desperately craved a good nap and a hot shower.

"Rebecca wait" he said when I had taken two steps ahead

I turned back to look at him

"I wanted to talk to you about something" he said looking nervous

When I did not interrupt he continued "Now that you will be staying here for a month, the guest room is not the safest place for you to be. Also we will be having guests over in the next week or so and I would feel better if you were in the north wing with the rest of us"

I nodded my head before realizing an important detail "But the north wing only has three huge rooms and from what I saw yesterday there was no other guest room"

He took an unnecessary breath "I was thinking you could stay in my room"

"Marcus no" I said hesitantly. Being friends was one thing but sharing a room with him was completely different.

"Rebecca, I don't sleep so don't need a bed. You can have the room. I will stay in the corridors or the library the entire night"

Okay this offer made me feel a little guilty. I was kicking him out of his own room.

"Please" he said pleadingly "It will make me happier"

I nodded my head and he gave me a huge smile in return as if I had given him the best gift humanly possible. Appointing a bodyguard 24/7 for me would also not be fair to them.

He took some of the bags from my hand and led me towards his room. We had hardly reached the elevator when Aro came walking towards us.

"Brother, can I have a word with you in private?" he said in a stern voice unlike the playfulness that I had seen in him earlier.

Marcus looked at me as if to ask whether I would be okay with him going with Aro right now, leaving me here. I nodded my head. Aro's tone did sound serious and it could have been an important royal matter for all I know.

"Felix" said Marcus and a hulk like vampire came and stood in front of us. He was huge and extremely tall and I involuntarily took a step behind. He could easily snap me in two without trying.

"Take Lady Rebecca to my room" said Marcus and Felix nodded his head taking the bags from Marcus.

"Oh this is Jessie's bag" I said pointing at one of the suitcases. After changing into a 'vampire' no doubt Jessie would not be able to go back to recover our luggage from the motel.

"No problem" said Felix "I will drop it into Demetri's room"

I gave him a small smile and followed him inside the elevator while Marcus followed Aro to his office.

Felix and I walked through the corridors in silence. All this was still very unusual for me and I figured that maybe I would start accepting this as reality soon. At least I hoped I would.

"So what is your ability? Marcus told me all the elite guard members have abilities"

"My strength" he said grinning "I am a terrific fighter with the best combat skills and stronger than any other vampire in the world"

I nodded my head "When did you join the Volturi?"

"I have been here for a thousand years now"

"Wow" I whispered "This is all still difficult for me to comprehend that there are people who have been alive for more than a thousand years"

He laughed a booming laugh "You will be shocked to know this then that I am one of the younger guard members in this castle. Almost everyone is older than me"

I nodded my head taking everything in.

"My sire is Aro himself and I was 29 in human years when I was changed and I have lived here since"

"So this is like your home?"

He nodded his head "This is my home and I never want to leave"

I nodded my head

"Lady Rebecca" he said after a while "The other covens think of us as cruel but that is not completely true. Someone has to maintain power and make the rules for the betterment of society and the masters are doing exactly that"

I nodded my head. I could understand his view point. "You know my father is the chief of my tribe"

"Is it? Where are you from?"

"A Quileute reservation in Washington State"

Felix and I spoke for some more time talking before we reached Marcus's room and he opened the huge mahogany doors to let me enter.

I was shocked when I entered the room the entire interiors had been revamped to give it a more modern finish. Everything from the flooring to the furniture to the paint on the walls had been changed. It was hard to believe that this room looked like something completely different just twenty four hours back.

"We vampires work fast" said Felix laughing looking at my confused expression

"It has just been twenty four hours"

He shrugged "We don't sleep plus can move our selves faster, so does not take much time"

I nodded my head. I guess I would have to get used to this weird inhuman occurrences around me.

He placed my bags on the floor and centre table before walking towards the door with Jessie's bag in his hand.

"Oh Lady Rebecca, don't worry about Jessie. She is in safe hands. Demetri is a good friend of mine and a good person"

I nodded my head and gave him a small smile. I don't know when I would get to see my best friend again. I would have to ask Marcus this.

"Felix, why do you all refer to me as Lady Rebecca?" "I would prefer to be called just by my name"

He shrugged again "I guess force of habit. We have called the brother's masters and their wives ladies for more than a thousand years and as Master Marcus's mate we call you Lady too just like the other two queens"

I nodded my head and he left the room.

I walked inside towards the bedroom and just like I had expected the furniture in here was changed too and a soft bed was now there in place of that rock hard bed. I smiled thinking that at least Marcus was considerate enough to change his things for me when he didn't have to.

I started putting my stuff in the empty cupboard placed in here and after I was done took a quick shower to cleanse myself from the tiredness of the entire day.

After I was dressed in a new pair of clothes I was playing a game on my phone when someone knocked at the door.

"Come in" I said and Corin entered. I was a bit wary of her after what Marcus had told me about her power to make everyone around her feel content and satisfied. I did not want to feel false happiness.

"I wanted to see if you needed any help in setting up"

I shook my head "I just finished, thanks though"

She smiled at me "Don't worry. I will never use my power on you. Master Marcus has warned me against it"

I nodded my head "Thanks"

"He loves you, you know"

I did not respond. I could feel it in his behavior when he was around me but I had assumed that if I did not think about it, I could keep on ignoring this fact.

"He understands though that for humans it is not as instinctual as it for us when we see our mate"

"Have you met your mate?" I asked her

She shook her head with a sad smile on her face "Still waiting"

I gave her a small smile and she left the room after telling me that my dinner will soon be here.

I removed my laptop from my bag and checked the emails that I had received nothing of much importance. I had an email from Rachel asking me where I was but I decided against telling her anything. If I would tell her it would no doubt reach dad in a few minutes and I could not tell dad all of this. I decided to ignore the email as of now but sooner or later I would have to make up some excuse for my whereabouts. 'Apparently my mate is a vampire' was not a conversation I was willing to have anytime soon.

A while later Marcus entered the room looking extremely upset and simultaneously angry.

"Are you okay?" I asked him concerned

He sighed and shook his head "Nothing you need to worry about"

"Marcus, if you want us to be friends, you need to tell me the truth. Hiding things from me will not help" I said after a few minutes of silence.

He was quiet for a few minutes as he sat opposite me on the new couch.

"Aro and Caius were angry on me for taking such a risk"

I looked at him confused "What risk?"

"You are still human and I took you out of the castle without any of the guards with us. If anyone wanted to take revenge from me or the Volturi, this would have been the perfect opportunity. They would have attacked, I would have died saving you and the Volturi would have lost one of their kings" he said sighing

"They don't like me very much" I said. It was not a question but a statement.

"It is not like that" "You have to understand where they are coming from. The Romanians used to rule the vampire world before us and we had to go to war with them to get to this throne. Aro and Caius are just protective of this throne and are scared of losing it"

I nodded my head "So if I die, you die too?" I said remembering that he had told me this earlier

"Yes, once we meet the eyes of our mate, we cannot stay away and it would kill us to be away from them. Either we would find someone to kill us or go insane with the pain"

I nodded my head "So what happens if I decide to leave and never become a vampire?" "And if I remember no human can know of your existence without being changed or getting killed as you had told me when you were telling me the rules"

He sighed "I will take the punishment for letting you go alive"

"What" I asked

"It could be anything from being thrown in the dungeons for a few centuries to being dismembered and left to live and when you die, I will find a way to die"

I just stood there staring at him "But that is just cruel"

"Rules are rules and even if I am the one who made it, I will follow it"

"This is so unfair" I shouted taking my head in my hands

"Rebecca please calm down" he said in a soothing voice "Your happiness means the world to me, if you are not happy here, with me, I will not stop you from doing what makes you happy and an eternity is a very long time to live with regrets. It will be miserable if you are not happy"

I nodded my head "Thank you"

And I was actually thankful that someone like Marcus had been chosen as my mate. Someone else may not have even given me this choice and that thought made me shudder. For the sake of Marcus I was actually going to give him and this life in this castle a try.

"No problem la mia principessa"

"When will I be able to meet Jessie?" I asked him changing the subject "Is she…?"

He shook his head "No not yet. The change on an average takes three days but it depends on the venom that has been inserted in the person. If it is insufficient the change could even take close to five days"

"So how do you know if it enough or not?"

"Experience that comes with age as a vampire"

"Have you changed anyone?"

"Only Didyme" he said almost whispering "Demetri is taking Jessie with him as soon as she wakes up" he said changing the subject

"Where" "Why"

"She will be a newborn and newborns survive on bloodlust. They cannot control themselves when they smell human blood and having her around you is dangerous"

"So I won't be able to meet her?" I whispered

He shook his head "Sorry at least not for a few months till Demetri can train her to control herself and if she has a gift he will have to teach her to use it too"

"Where will they go?"

"The guard members often invest in properties in different parts of the world so that they can relax when they want to. Demetri owns an apartment in Athens. I am assuming he will take her there for a while or they may choose to live as nomads for these couple of months"

I nodded my head sadly

After that my dinner soon arrived and I had a quiet dinner with Marcus sitting next to me. I was going to miss having Jessie around and if I did not choose this life, there was a chance that I would never see her again.

"Wait, what will we tell her parents?" I asked him

He sighed "It completely depends on Jessie. If she chooses to tell them that she has relocated to Italy for studies or something or decides to die in their eyes but either way she will never be able to see them again"

I nodded my head. I had come to terms with this.

After dinner, Marcus left the room telling me that tomorrow he would take me to meet the other guard members and to see their infamous training session.

I lied down on my bed as the first day of my thirty days in this castle ended.

A/N la mia principessa – my princess


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you Catgrl and MammaNita4 for your reviews.

Chapter 6-

_Day 2- _

"So this is the training room" said Marcus as we walked into the huge hall, entering though the ceiling high iron doors. Two lower guard members were flanking the door and moved to let us enter when they saw us approach.

"One needs permission to enter this room" said Marcus explaining it to me "No visitors are allowed without the permission of either of me, Aro or Caius. We don't want any of visitors to know how capable our guard members are or how well they can fight. It reduces the surprise element in case of a fight though because of word of mouth some of the elite guard members are very well known for their powers"

I nodded my head. Today was my second day out of the thirty days deal and the third day in this castle in Volterra, Italy and it was hard to believe that it had only been three days since my life had completely changed for better or for worse I had no clear idea at this point.

Marcus had come to my new room this morning and had asked me if I would like to get more acquainted with the guard members and if I wanted to see how they trained. He told me that showing their powers was better than telling me about them. They took their training very seriously and trained everyday for hours to develop their powers. I had immediately said yes, firstly because I was curious to see how a bunch of immortals with super strength, super speed and super powers would fight and secondly because this was Marcus's family, his 'coven' and for vampires their coven was very important and I wanted to give Marcus a fair chance. The price he would have to pay in case I decided to not be with him was exorbitant and the least I could do for him was give him a fair chance.

"This room is sound proof just like most of the other rooms in the castle" said Marcus. He had told me how certain rooms in this castle were made to be soundproof including the Kings rooms and their offices so that they could have a private conversation without the risk of being eavesdropped on which would definitely not be difficult in a castle filled with people who are blessed with super hearing.

I nodded my head and followed him inside the room that was filled with vampires. He walked a little closer to me now, probably scenting my sudden fear. The room was dark, with walls painted black and a gloomy atmosphere to the room. It had very less lighting and I had to focus my eyes to see what was happening in here.

There were a group of twenty five to thirty vampires fighting one another in one corner of the room. It was mesmerizing to see them fighting firstly in batches of two and then one against as many as ten. I had to see closely so that I would not miss their fight because of their speed.

"This is the lower guard" said Marcus "They basically have no important power enough to make them a part of the elite guard and their training is learning how to fight so that they can protect the castle. They also work on their speed, senses and bloodlust so that they can go outside and spy on the covens who we think are breaking rules without exposing themselves to humans or the coven. A few of them like Michael and Grayson have the power to mask their scent and that is very helpful when they are sent on missions" he said pointing at two vampires out of the group of lower guard members.

I nodded my head taking in all the new information

"At any given point we have at least have ten guard members who are outside spying and seeing if everything is in order in our world"

"Everything is so well planned" I told him surprised. I didn't know that vampires could be this organized and well planned in their thinking. I had a completely different understanding of the word 'vampire' as I had seen in movies or read in books. I had assumed that they would be feral and untamed.

He chuckled "It is not easy to rule an entire race without having some medium of keeping order, Rebecca and as you grow older, your bloodlust diminishes and you can concentrate on other work. For example Aro, Caius and I can go close to six months without feeding in case of emergency and still be unaffected. The new ones need to feed more often."

"How often do they need to feed?"

He thought about it for a few minutes "Newborns, which is the first year after their change feed every two days, after that they can go without feeding for a week and as you grow older, you can wait till a month. The ones who feed on animals need to feed every day so that they don't lose control"

"There are vampires who feed on animals?" I asked him surprised

He nodded his head "Yes the Olympic coven and the Denali's who live in Alaska are two such covens. They don't believe in feeding on humans. In fact both Carlisle, the leader of the Olympic Coven and Eleazer of the Denali coven have been a part of the Volturi in the past"

"Why did they leave then?"

He sighed "Carlisle could not stand our lifestyle. He wanted to study and do something for humanity. He practices as a doctor and Eleazer met his mate Carmen and decided to leave with her"

"He is a doctor?" I asked him

He nodded his head "Yes, has been for centuries now. He has never tasted human blood they say and has immense control. Caius hates him and Aro was very fond of him when he lived here"

"What about you?"

He sighed again "I was a very different person before you Rebecca. I preferred to be in solitary confinement and rarely spoke to anyone unless it was work related though Carlisle and I had had a few discussions on books and on the medical field in general"

"Medical field" I asked him curiously "Are you interested in it?"

He gave out a small sad laugh "Very. I loved researching. My dream was to research and find ways in which other supernatural creatures can be healed from their ailments and wounds. I wanted to open a clinic for all kinds of supernatural beings to come to when they fall ill or need any kind of medical advice."

"Vampires don't fall ill" I said confused

He shook his head "Not vampires but there are other supernatural creatures who could do with the medical attention. They can't go to a normal doctor and I had the time, knowledge and resources needed"

"Have you seen any others?"

"Many" "And not all of them are bad. Unlike Aro and Caius at least I don't think so. Most of them don't even have a choice in it, just like we didn't have a choice in becoming this."

"That is a very noble thought. So why didn't you?"

He was quiet for a few minutes and I was about to apologize for asking him this when he spoke again

"Because Didyme died, this was her dream, to leave the castle and after her I just lost all hope, hardly paying attention to what was happening around me."

I nodded my head but didn't ask anything more. Talking about Didyme was difficult for him and I didn't want to make him uncomfortable and bruise his wounds more. Maybe someday in the future he could go back to fulfilling his dream.

I had a sudden fleeting thought, in all these years how many people had actually tried to hold a mutiny against them, must have been lots. I would ask Marcus this after the training session.

We walked towards the middle of the huge hall in silence after that.

The one named Felix was fighting the guard I had seen on my first day here and it looked as if he was fighting for his life while Felix was grinning as if he was playing with the other guy.

"This is Felix and Santiago. Both of our best fighters" said Marcus as we continued to watch them stand in crouched position "Felix is a better fighter but Santiago is also not bad. He can get a few good kicks in. The winner is the one who takes out the other's head"

"Wouldn't that kill the person?" I asked him shocked and he gave out a small laugh

"No, if our body parts are taken out they can be joined again using venom. If it our own then it is less painful, if it is someone else's it is more painful. In fact many sire's use this as a punishment to train their newborn vampires. Maria of the southern vampire wars was known for doing this. She used to decapitate them and then use her own venom to join it back and they would suffer in pain for hours"

I winced. How cruel was that?

"Southern vampire wars" I asked

He nodded his head "I will tell you later. They were a big part of our history. So coming back to the point the only way to permanently end our existence would be to burn every body part of ours. Even a single finger left behind is dangerous"

I nodded my head and went back to looking at the fight. Felix and Santiago would run towards one another from a distance before either of them would dodge the other or overturn them and throw them to the floor. Felix was the stronger one and managed to easily overturn Santiago but Santiago also got a few good kicks and punches in. As of now the fight looked close.

"Come on you pussy, this is the best you got" chuckled Felix and Santiago growled at him before pouncing again. Their fight lasted for a few more minutes before Felix pulled Santiago head mercilessly and took a bow. It was almost like pulling the head off a plastic doll but the fact that this was not a plastic doll made me close my eyes and cringe.

"That was brutal"

Marcus winced a bit "Sorry, I should have known better. Felix restituiscigli la testa ora" he shouted and Felix apologized before giving Santiago his head back, who joined it using his own venom.

"I apologize, Rebecca" said Marcus, his face crestfallen "I should have thought this through before bringing you in here. This is all like an old habit to us so it did not cross my mind that a human would find it brutal"

"It is okay. I don't scare easily but please try to avoid the head pulling thing in front of me in future. It was gross" and kind of scary, I added in my mind.

He frantically nodded his head and we walked ahead towards the next two who were fighting.

The next two were Heidi and Renata and I stood observing their fight.

"Both of them are opposites in a way. Renata is a physical shield and can shield anyone but she has to be touching them. Her power is to repel other people and confuse them so that they go in the opposite direction forgetting what they were doing in the first place and Heidi's power is physical attraction. Everyone gets attracted to her beauty irrespective of age, gender or mortal, immortal, especially the non mated ones. They get blinded by her beauty and do what she says"

Their fight was comical to see. None of them was moving and they were standing at a distance from one another without talking. Suddenly the expression on Heidi's face would change and it would look as if there was nothing more that she wanted than to leave this room but after a few seconds again the expression would change and she would look confused.

"Renata is confusing her and she is getting repelled by her" said Marcus

"Renata" said Heidi in a seductive voice playing with her hair strand "Leave the training room and let me win"

Renata stared at her for a few seconds and almost nodded her head before snapping out of it.

"Isn't Renata a shield than how come Heidi is able to affect her?" I whispered

"She is a physical shield not a mental and Heidi's power is almost like hypnotizing someone. She plays with a person's mind at some level when she convinces them to do what she wants."

I nodded my head. Their 'fight' went on for a few minutes before Renata gave up letting Heidi win.

They then got into crouching position as if they would attack the other any second now.

"This is the second round. Apart from training on their powers, they also have to learn basic fighting so that they can survive in a fight if need be" said Marcus

I nodded my head. Their fight was not as intense as Felix and Santiago and soon ended with Renata winning but instead of pulling the head out, she stopped when her hands were at the neck in the position of pulling it out.

We walked towards the next two.

"This is Demetri and Afton" said Marcus. I thought about asking Demetri about Jessie but left it to after the fight.

"Demetri is the world's best tracker. He tracks a person's mental essence and can find anyone he has once met again irrespective of where they are in the world. They cannot hide from him because a person's mental signature never changes"

Demetri gave me a small smile which I reciprocated.

"And this is Afton he is mated to Chelsea, one of our other guard members. He is also a shield but he can only shield himself. He can create the illusion that he is invisible"

Wow! What an amazing power to have- invisibility.

Their fight was spread across the entire room and everyone took a few steps back to give them the place. In a second or two, Afton just disappeared from where he was standing and Demetri shut his eyes for a second before opening it and running in a particular direction. Marcus told me that he was tracking Afton's mental signature and Afton was trying to clasp his hands from behind Demetri using his invisibility. After a few more minutes of this, Demetri pounced on the floor and locked his hands on the sides and Afton became visible again.

Then started the second round and Demetri won again, making him win both the rounds.

"Hey" I told Demetri after he was done with his training

"Hello Lady Rebecca" he said with a smile

"Jessie?" I nervously asked him

"In the final hours of the change, in fact after this I was just about to go to my room and pack so that we can leave when she wakes up"

"Can I meet her please?" I whispered

He shook his head and looked at Marcus who came and stood next to me.

"Sorry Rebecca, you know you cannot be anywhere near her at this point" said Marcus

"Okay can I at least talk to her on phone or use Skype?" I pleaded

He shook his head again "Not till she gets used to being a vampire and we don't even know if she will retain her memory or not"

I stared at him with my mouth open "what do you mean?"

Marcus sighed "The change is painful and often when the person wakes up, he has no prior memory of himself. It can happen that Jessie remembers nothing of herself"

"But" I whispered sadly

Marcus gave me an apologetic look "But if she remembers, after the first few months when her bloodlust is lesser in comparison and she can think coherently you can talk to her"

I nodded my head "Where are you both going?" I asked Demetri

"As of now we are going to be nomads. I have a few friends outside that I want her to meet"

"You both will be back in a year?"

He nodded his head "A year or two. A few years don't matter much to our kind"

True, when they had all of eternity, a few years wouldn't matter much.

I nodded my head and he soon left the room.

Marcus and I walked towards Corin and another blonde female.

"You already know Corin and this is Chelsea, one of our most prized guard members. Corin's gift is to make people feel content with their situation in life and Chelsea can manipulate the ties of relationships. When the Volturi want a vampire to join, she can bind them to the Volturi so that they don't leave or never plan a mutiny and she can also break the ties of our enemies with their coven weakening them but she cannot affect mated couples."

I nodded my head taking in all the information. Chelsea's power seemed the most dangerous till now.

Their fight was similar to Renata and Heidi and they were playing with one another's mind. They kept staring at one another with smiles on their face.

"Corin is trying to keep Chelsea content so that she does not feel like fighting and Chelsea is binding Corin to her tighter so that she cannot fight her due to respect" said Marcus explaining it to me.

Chelsea's smile widened and at one point Corin took a few steps back looking afraid.

Finally after a few minutes Corin shook her head and sighed "I give up. I can't fight her"

Chelsea grinned at her and Afton came and wrapped his arms around her.

Their second round was the physical one and after a few punches and kicks, Chelsea won this round too.

The last two and who looked like the most important ones were next in line. The girl I recognized as Jane was scowling at everyone and the boy standing next to her, who was obviously her twin gave me a cheeky grin. They did not look any older than fourteen and their features still had a bit of childlike appearance in them.

"These are Jane and Alec" said Marcus "Jane can cause someone to believe that they are feeling excruciating fiery pain, creating an illusion of pain and Alec can cut off all senses making the vampire unable to see, hear or feel anything. In a way they are the antidote to one another"

Everyone had now stopped what they were doing to observe them both use their powers. Jane suddenly muttered 'pain' but before anything could have happened, a white mist like object came out of Alec and pushed itself towards Jane. She muttered 'pain' again angrily and the mist disappeared but Alec was unaffected.

This continued for a few minutes with neither of them backing down. Everyone silently kept observing them using their power. A few times Alec would fall on the ground crumbling in pain and a few times Jane would fall on the floor shouting that she cannot see, hear or feel anything. Every time the screams were louder and Marcus told me that they had increased the voltage but neither of them said that they quit. Jane looked the more stubborn one out of them both.

Finally Alec gave in and surrendered and for once Jane smiled but I found her smile to still be evil.

The second round was the physical one and Alec was no match to Jane in this and within seconds she had him pinned on the floor.

After that we observed a few more fights with different pairings before we left the training room to go towards the kitchen as it was already lunch time.

"Something is bothering you" said Marcus after a few minutes of silence

I shook my head and gave him a small smile

"Come on Rebecca, you can tell me"

"Jane and Alec are twins right?" I said after a few minutes

He nodded his head

"But their fight was so…" "I don't think I could ever fight Rachel like that"

He gave out a huge laugh but calmed down when he saw my hurt expression "They were not actually fighting Rebecca. They were training and it was not like they could actually hurt one another. Jane cares the most about Alec in this world and everyone fears her wrath enough to not do anything to Alec so most of the times, she ends up training with him."

I nodded my head hesitantly.

"Rebecca, I wanted to give you this" said Marcus nervously. He took out a black robe and a pendant from his pockets.

I looked at him surprised.

"This is the Volturi robe. We wear it in the throne room during proceedings or when we go out on missions and this is the Volturi Crest, a sign that you belong to the Volturi"

I took it both from his hands and observed it. The black robe was floor length and had a purple line to the side.

"The color on the robe signifies your importance in the castle. We three wear complete black robes, the queens have a purple line on one side, Demetri as the leader of the guard has a red line, the other elite guard members have a yellow line and the lower guards have a blue line on one side"

I nodded my head and looked at the crest. It was cut in the shape of a 'V' and had two red rubies attached to it. A long chain was attached to the crest.

"Marcus, I cannot accept this" I said hesitantly. I was still not sure of my decision and this felt more binding.

"Please, it would make me feel much better. Give it back to me in case of you leaving" he said and I nodded my head, sighing. I would think about this later.

"So do I have to come to the throne room during proceedings too?" I asked him

He frantically shook his head "No no. Most of them are rogue vampires and the news that we have a human queen living with us cannot spread outside. It would be too dangerous."

I nodded my head thankful for that. Their throne room was truly creepy.

After taking my lunch from the kitchen we walked towards my room and sat on the table in there.

"Marcus, I wanted to talk to you about something"

He nodded his head telling me to continue.

"I have been thinking about this. I need to tell my family something about my whereabouts and my sister will ask me this the next time I talk to her"

He sighed "You know you cannot tell them the truth right?"

I nodded my head "I know but I have to tell them something" I could not risk telling them the truth and putting them in danger but I would have to sooner or later give them some answer.

He was quiet for a few minutes as if contemplating an answer "Tell them you have met someone in Italy and want to stay with him for a while and see where the relationship goes"

"I guess that can work" I told him "Anyways they knew that I had no definite plans of returning when I left"

He nodded his head while I decided that a call home was due.

Restituiscigli la testa ora- Give him his head back now


End file.
